How male young adults construe their playing style in violent video games

This study explores the various ways in which male young adults engage with violence in videogames. Based on an ethnographic study (N=26) with triangulation of diary reports, focus group interviews and a video commentary model, three conceptual axes are distinguished along which players differ in their enactment of videogame violence: narration vs. action, discovery vs. mission-based play and reaction vs. strategic play. The results suggest that individual playing styles result in exposure to different quantities and a different quality of virtual violence.